Everything Changes
by sevenpurplebubbles
Summary: Remus Lupin thought his life was going alright, until it wasn't. When James and Lily are betrayed and Sirius goes to prison, Remus has nothing left. How does Remus deal with everything that's going on? How does he move on with his life? When tragedy strikes, everything changes.


**Alright, so this is a story about Remus Lupin at the end of October 1981. I tried to keep it as close to the actual events as I could, and I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading!**

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Everything Changes

_Dear Mr. Lupin,_

_We regret to inform you that your application for the position of store clerk at _Potage's Cauldron Shop_ has been rejected. We do not feel that you are the best candidate to appeal to our clientele. However, we wish you luck in future endeavours._

_Sincerely,_

_Adelaide Potage_

Remus Lupin crumpled up the letter and threw it across the tiny bedroom. It landed on the floor next to the garbage bin, already overflowing with rejection letters. Remus had been trying to get a job for the past three years; every since he had graduated from Hogwarts, but nobody had wanted him.

"We do not feel that you are the best candidate to appeal to our clientele," Remus muttered to himself, scowling. Every rejection letter he had received had given a similar excuse, but Remus knew the real reason nobody wanted to employ him. He was a werewolf, and nobody wanted to employ a werewolf.

Remus wished he could talk to his friends; they had always managed to make him feel better when he was feeling discouraged, but unfortunately, it didn't seem like he would be seeing them anytime soon. James and Lily had gone into hiding about a week ago. Remus didn't know where, but he supposed that was the point of having a Fidelius Charm.

They had chosen Sirius as their secret keeper. Remus could understand this decision; James and Sirius were best friends; Remus knew he had always been a step below Sirius in James' book. What Remus didn't understand was why Sirius wouldn't tell him where they were staying. It wasn't like Remus would be able to tell anyone else, only the secret keeper could do that.

At first, Sirius had said that he wasn't going to give anyone the secret, just in case a Death Eater overheard him telling. Remus had understood this, and though he was disappointed he wouldn't get to see James, he knew it was for his and his family's safety.

Two days later, though, things had changed. Remus had run into Peter when he was in Diagon Alley, looking for shops that were hiring. Upon seeing his friend, Remus had approached. Peter had gotten a job right out of school, but wouldn't tell anyone what it was. It seemed to keep him quite busy though, as neither Remus, Sirius nor James had seen much of Peter over the past three years.

Peter looked much thinner, and he was already balding. Remus had wondered how demanding Peter's job was that made him look so worn out. Remus had asked Peter if he wanted to grab something to eat at the Leaky Cauldron, but Peter said he was too busy.

Remus had asked where Peter was going, and Peter had said he needed to bring James some groceries. He disapparated on the spot, leaving Remus, hurt and confused, standing in the middle of Diagon Alley.

If Peter was going to see James, Sirius must have given him the secret, something he had outright refused to give to Remus. Remus had gone straight to Sirius' place then, and confronted him. The panic he had seen etched into his friend's face told him he didn't need to hear the explanation, and Remus left.

Now, Remus was staying in a tiny little cottage in the north of the country. He couldn't bear to return to the flat James had rented for him, as it contained too many memories. He felt betrayed and alone. At this very moment, Sirius, Peter and James were probably all crowded around little Harry, making bubbles with their wands for Harry to pop, and here Remus was, depressed and alone, broke and friendless.

There was a knock on the door, and Remus walked out of the small bedroom into the only other room in the cottage. It contained a moth-eaten sofa against one wall, a table big enough for two against the other wall, and a fridge pushed into the corner. He walked over to the door and did a quick spell to see who it was. One of the reasons he had come out here was so that Sirius couldn't come and find him. He didn't want to hear any excuses.

The spell revealed that it was the Muggle owner of the cottage he was staying in, Mr. Brighton. He tucked his wand into the back pocket of his pants and opened the door.

"Good day Mr. Lupin," Mr. Brighton greeted him.

"I suppose you're here for the rent," Remus sighed.

"Yes, unfortunately I am. I always collect on Wednesdays," Mr Brighton replied.

Remus walked over to the couch, where he had thrown his jacket upon his arrival two days ago. He fished his wallet out of the pocket and began to count out the money. He had exchanged all his money for Muggle money before coming here; knowing the Muggle owner probably wouldn't accept Knuts.

After counting out the proper amount, he handed it to Mr. Brighton. He sighed again, seeing that he was now left with only enough for another couple of days here, and then he would most likely be kicked out and he would have to return to the flat James was renting for him. He didn't want to go back, but he realized that it was really a decision between being sad and being homeless.

"You know, if you're tight on money, I could always use some help with the upkeep of the cottages," Mr. Brighton offered, obviously noticing Remus' lack of money.

"Thanks," Remus said, thrown aback. "I'll think about it." Mr. Brighton nodded and then left to collect rent from the next cottage. Remus closed the door and then returned to the bedroom, sitting down on the bed in a bit of a daze. He was just offered a job, and he wasn't being judged for his lycanthropy. Of course, Mr. Brighton didn't know he was a werewolf. In fact, being a Muggle, he probably didn't even know werewolves existed.

Remus considered his options. He didn't have any other job offers coming his way, but did he really want to permanently enter the Muggle world? When he was young, he thought his future was over because he was bitten and became a werewolf, but then Professor Dumbledore had accepted him to Hogwarts, and it had seemed that Remus could have a place in the wizarding world after all.

It had meant everything to Remus to know that he was a part of the world, and he wouldn't be an outcast. Accepting this job would be like admitting that he could never be a part of the wizarding world.

And sure, he was having a falling out with his friends right now, but surely this would all blow over eventually. You-Know-Who wouldn't be around forever, and then James would come out of hiding. Sirius would realize that he had made a mistake not trusting Remus and Remus knew he would forgive him when the time came. Peter's job wouldn't keep him away from his friends forever.

Remus decided he needed to sleep on it before he could decide what to do. He didn't want to make a rash decision like Sirius always did. He lay down on the thin mattress and pulled the flimsy sheet over himself, falling into a restless sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Remus awoke to loud shouts and bangs. He instinctually jumped out of bed and grabbed his wand, holding it out in front of him as he peered out the window. Three years in the Order had taught him that he should never let his guard down.

Outside, there was a crowd gathering, consisting of all the Muggles staying in the surrounding cottages. They all appeared to be staring into the sky and pointing at something in the distance. It was dark out, probably sometime in the early morning.

Remus pulled his jacket on and tucked his wand up his sleeve in case. Then he went outside to join the crowd. "What's going on?" he asked the nearest person.

"It looks like fireworks or something," the man replied, pointing at the sky. As if on cue, the aforementioned fireworks shot into the sky, a burst of red and gold sparks. "They must be for Halloween. The strange thing is they don't explode like regular fireworks," the man continued. "They just zoom around in the air."

Remus nodded absentmindedly though he was no longer listening to the man's ramblings. He would recognize the so called fireworks anywhere. They were magical sparks, and the only possible way they could be in the sky would be if a wizard were shooting them out of their wand.

What could be going on, though, Remus wondered. Shooting sparks like this was a clear violation of the International Statute of Secrecy and surely the Ministry would have stopped them by now.

"How long has this been going on?" Remus asked the man, who was apparently still talking to him.

"Oh, at least twenty minutes," the man replied.

Twenty minutes was far too long, Remus realized. It wouldn't take the Ministry more than five minutes to discover what was going on, and then it was only a matter of a few seconds to apparate to the source and apprehend the miscreant that had probably had too much Firewhisky to drink and stop the display.

Remus needed to know what was going on, and he was sure he wasn't going to get any more insight than he already had from talking to the man. He thanked him and then returned to his cottage. Upon shutting the door behind him, he turned on the spot and disapparated to Diagon Alley.

When he arrived in the Leaky Cauldron, it was chaos. The pub was packed with witches and wizards, and they all seemed to be celebrating something. He headed towards the bar, where he beckoned the barman, Tom over.

"Could you tell me why everyone seems to be celebrating?" Remus asked.

"Why, my dear man, do you mean to tell me you haven't heard?" Tom asked, taking a step back.

Remus shook his head and waited expectantly.

"Why, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been destroyed!" Tom exclaimed excitedly.

Remus was speechless. How could it be? He was gone? So then Harry was safe, James could come out of hiding. Remus felt like he was soaring. It was like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Things could go back to the way they were. Perhaps with You-Know-Who out of the way, people would be more inclined to hire a werewolf and he could get a job.

"But… how?" Remus asked, still unsure how this could have come about. He knew the Order didn't have anything planned at the moment; they were just doing some spy work to try and root out the Death Eaters that were employed at the Ministry.

"Why, little Harry Potter!" Tom exclaimed. "You-Know-Who tried to kill him but Harry killed him instead, and with his own curse too, apparently."

Remus felt his heart stop for a moment. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had been with Harry? How had he gotten through the Fidelius Charm?

"But Harry's alright, right?" Remus asked warily.

"Oh yes, he's perfectly fine. Too bad about the parents though… good people they were," Tom said.

"Too bad about the parents…?" Remus parroted back, paralyzed with the fear that his worst nightmare had come true. James and Lily, they couldn't be… they just couldn't.

"They were killed," Tom said, "most unfortunate that."

It had happened. James and Lily were dead. They were gone. One of Remus' best friends in the entire world was gone. His thoughts flitted to Sirius and he realized what all of this must mean. Sirius was the secret keeper. How could You-Know-Who have gotten to them without the secret. Sirius must have betrayed them. How could he? Sirius was James' best friend!

"I have to go," Remus said abruptly to Tom, getting up and walking out of the pub. He needed to understand. He needed to know what was going on. He couldn't go see Sirius, he was a traitor. Peter, he would go see Peter. Remus apparated to the small house in Wimbourne, where Peter still lived with his mother.

When he asked where Peter was, though, Mrs. Pettigrew replied that Peter had left in the middle of the afternoon and she hadn't seen him since. Remus thanked her and left, wondering who else he could talk to.

The first person he thought of was Professor Dumbledore. Surely he would know what was going on, and he had always been on good terms with the older wizard.

Remus apparated to the gates of Hogwarts and was met by the caretaker, Mr. Filch. He requested an audience with the Headmaster and was informed that he was not around. There were three more people at the school that Remus knew were in the Order; Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid, and the most recent member, Severus Snape.

Filch informed him that none of them were at the school, so Remus asked if he could wait for Dumbledore in his office. Filch wasn't sure if that would be alright, but let him in anyway, as he really wanted to get back to the corridors. There seemed to be an unnatural number of students wandering the hallways tonight and Filch was determined to catch every one of them.

Remus thanked him and began to walk the familiar route to the Headmaster's office. When he arrived at the statue of the gargoyle, Remus uttered the password, which he knew from the last Order report he had had to give. He walked up the staircase and wondered if he should go into the office. He decided to wait outside the door as he felt it would be rude to intrude without a proper invitation.

He didn't need to wait long before the office door was thrown open. Dumbledore welcomed him in and gestured for him to sit as he circled around to sit behind his desk.

"I assume you've heard?" Dumbledore asked in a heavy voice. Remus was pretty sure he could detect tears forming in the old man's eyes.

"Is it true?" Remus asked, knowing it was, but still needing to hear it from the Professor.

"Yes," Dumbledore said.

"How?" Remus asked.

"They were betrayed," Dumbledore replied, confirming Remus' suspicions.

"How could he?" Remus asked, more to himself than to Dumbledore.

"Yes, Mr. Pettigrew had similar thoughts," Dumbledore said.

Remus looked up questioningly and Dumbledore launched into an explanation of how Peter had tracked Sirius down and threatened him. Peter, of course, being the weak man that he was, was no match for Sirius, especially if Sirius had Dark Magic on his side, which he surely did.

With a sigh, Dumbledore finished the story, "your friend Peter was killed, and Sirius has been taken to Azkaban. There will be no trial; there isn't really a need for one."

Remus felt like his stomach was being filled with lead. It wasn't possible. James, Lily and Peter all dead and Sirius responsible and in prison? How could everything have changed so suddenly in such a short time? When had Remus' life come to this? It felt like just yesterday that the Marauders were planning their next greatest prank.

"What about Harry?" Remus asked, realizing there was still one person in his life that was alive. "I could take him." Sirius had technically been named Harry's godfather, but for obvious reasons, he wouldn't be raising the baby.

"Harry has been taken to his aunt and uncle's house. He will be safe there," Dumbledore said.

"Wait, Lily's horrible Muggle sister?" Remus asked. "No, I could take him. He'll be happier with me!" Remus couldn't imagine this last tie to his best friends be taken away from him.

"Remus," Dumbledore said, reaching across the desk to put his arm on Remus' shoulder. "I'm sorry, but Harry will be better off with his aunt and uncle. I've made my decision."

"But it isn't your decision to make!" Remus almost shouted.

"Nor, I am afraid, is it yours. You aren't Harry's godfather. His aunt and uncle, however, are his blood relatives, and therefore he will be raised with them, away from the magical world," Dumbledore replied calmly.

Remus didn't reply this time. He just sat and stared into his lap. He had nothing left. His friends were gone. He didn't really have much of a life outside of his friends; he had learned that these past couple of days. Without James and Sirius and Peter, he had become the outsider he had always feared becoming.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Remus finally asked, more to himself than anything else. He was still in shock, the grieving and the depression that he knew would come had not yet hit.

"Am I correct in assuming that you are unemployed?" Dumbledore asked.

Remus looked up, confused at this new thread of conversation. He nodded and Dumbledore continued.

"I have yet to find a permanent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, as you very well know from your school days here. The current teacher refuses to remain past Christmas. Would you be interested in the position?" he asked.

Remus sat for a moment and tried to process what had just happened. A few hours ago, he would have jumped at the chance of a job in the wizarding world, but now he wasn't so sure. Taking the job would mean he would have to spend ten months of the year at Hogwarts, the place he had spent seven years with the Marauders. Every day would be a reminder that those days were over; that they had been violently ripped away from him by none other than one of his best friends.

"No," Remus found himself saying as he rose from the chair. "I'm sorry, but I need to go," Remus said.

"Of course," Dumbledore said sadly. "I'm very sorry," he said quietly as Remus closed the door behind him.

In silence, Remus descended the stairs and proceeded to exit the castle. It was strange, he thought, how out of place he felt now in the building that had served as his home for seven years only three years after having left it. He had eaten in the Great Hall with some of the students that were still here, and yet Remus felt much older than he was.

Every turn he made send another pang through his heart, every corridor holding the memory of a particular moment from his childhood that he wished with all his heart he could have back.

James and Lily had had their first kiss right next to that suit of armour. Sirius had defended Remus to an older student who was making fun of him by that staircase. This was the window that Peter had accidentally fallen out of when they were pulling off a prank.

When Remus reached the boundary of the school, he disapparated back to his cottage, where the crowd had thankfully dispersed. Instead of going into his cottage, he walked determinedly to the cottage where Mr. Brighton was staying.

During his walk through Hogwarts, Remus had made up his mind. He needed to get away, leave the magical world behind him and start over. It was now mid-afternoon, so Remus determined it would be safe t rouse the land owner.

He knocked on the door and minutes later, it was opened by a bleary-eyed Mr. Brighton. He had probably been up half the night dealing with the firework scandal.

"Mr. Lupin, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Mr. Brighton asked.

"Is that job helping with the cottages still open?" Remus asked.

"Of course, of course," Mr. Brighton replied.

"Then I'll take it if that's alright," Remus replied.

"Excellent, let's say you start tomorrow?" Mr. Brighton asked. "We can discuss the specifics then."

Remus agreed and then returned to his cottage. He conjured a nightstand in his bedroom and made sure it had a lock. He placed his wand in the drawer, and then realized he had nothing else left from the wizarding world. He closed and locked the drawer and then placed the key in his pocket. He wouldn't need his wand now that You-Know-Who was gone. And if he was going to properly move on, he needed to leave wizardry behind for good.

He realized he hadn't eaten for quite some time, but also realized he had no food, so instead, he curled up on his couch and allowed himself, for the first time since hearing the news, allowed himself to cry.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The sun was setting, and Remus could feel his body already reacting to the approaching full moon. This would be the first transformation since his friends became Animagi that he would have to do on his own.

He left the cottage and went deep into the surrounding forest. He pulled his clothes off, not wanting them to rip during the transformation as they were the only clothes he owned now, having left all his possessions behind. He then stood in the night and waited for the moon to hit him. He watched through the leaves as it rose and when it was directly overhead, he felt the transformation begin. He began to tremble and he could feel his bones elongating. His skin was stretching past breaking point and he cried out in pain.

When it was over, he raised his head to the sky, allowing his eyes to take in the fullness of the moon. He closed his eyes and howled. He was Remus no longer. Now, under the light of the full moon, he was Moony.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Remus awoke, naked, bleeding, trembling and alone, just as he had been for as long as it seemed he could remember. He slowly raised himself up and made his way back to where he had stashed his clothes. He pulled them on and slowly walked back to his cottage.

When he arrived, he made himself some breakfast as usual and prepared for a day of mowing grass and fixing roves just as he had done every day for over eleven years. It was summer and very hot, so Remus left his jacket in its place on the couch and locked the door to his cottage, tucking the key into his pocket. As he pushed it in, he felt it knock against another key, but he pointedly ignored its presence, not wanting to think about the reason why he had the second key.

Mr. Brighton had an exciting day of chopping wood planned, wanting to get a head start on the winter supply of wood to burn for heat. Remus picked up his axe and began to swing at the lumber, retreating further and further back to himself with each swing, putting his awful night behind him, glad he wouldn't have to think about things for another month.

0o0o0o0o0o0

When Remus returned to his cottage that night, he skipped dinner and threw himself onto the bed, exhausted since he hadn't had a proper sleep the night before. He quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

He was roused very shortly after, however, by a strange tapping sound. It seemed to be coming from his window, so he looked over in that direction. To Remus' utter shock, there was an owl pecking at his window.

Remus hadn't had any contact with that world ever since he decided to stay here. Curiosity winning out, he opened the window and allowed the owl to fly in. He untied the scroll from the owl's leg and began to read.

_To Remus Lupin,_

_I understand that you have chosen to leave behind the world of wizards to life out your years in the Muggle world, but implore you to rethink this decision. Hogwarts is still in search of a Defence against the Dark Arts Professor and I ask if you would consider taking the position. Harry will be entering his third year and I am sure that you would like to see him. _

_On another note, Sirius Black recently escaped from Azkaban prison. It is understood that his purpose is to find and kill Harry. I do not bring this up to influence your decision to return to Hogwarts, only because I feel that you deserve to know what is going on. _

_I will give you some time to think about the offer, but I do need to know soon as a Defence teacher will be needed come September. Please do not simply wave away this offer. The wizarding world may not have changed much since you left it, but it is still your world and you have as much a right to live in it as the rest of us._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Remus stared at the letter for what seemed like hours before he managed to shake himself out of shock. He hadn't allowed himself to think about much since his decision to leave the wizarding world. He hadn't thought of Sirius or Harry in years and now that it had been brought to his mind, he found he couldn't push them away. He put the letter down on top of his nightstand and began pacing back and forth in the tiny room.

Perhaps it was time. It had been almost twelve years; he had come to terms with James, Lily and Peter's fates. He had accepted that Sirius was a traitor, but maybe he still had a chance with Harry. Harry had always loved his 'Unca Moo'y' when he had visited all those years ago.

Slowly, Remus pulled the second key out of his pocket and stared at it for a while. Eventually, he tentatively lowered it to the lock on the drawer. He inserted it and carefully turned the key in the lock. He heard and felt the click, and the drawer slowly rolled open.

He stared at the contents warily, unsure if he really wanted to touch it, but finally, he reached in and picked up his wand. When he touched it, he felt an electric shock run through his arm and right through his entire body. It felt as though a part of him that had been missing had finally been reunited with his body.

Remus sighed to himself and then smiled. He wrote a quick reply on the back of the parchment and sent it back to Professor Dumbledore with the owl. Then he left the cottage and headed over to Mr. Brighton's cottage to tell him he would be leaving. He was going back to Hogwarts.

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**Alright, so there you have it. What do you guys think? Please leave a review to let me know!**


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